Return of Wind
by bluewindranger
Summary: Post Storm Before the Calm, Pt. 2. When the Wind Rangers retire from saving the world in color-coded spandexes, they enter a battle with an enemy that they have never encountered before: teaching at the Academy. Set from Storm Before the Calm, Pt. 2 to Thunder Storm, Pt. 1. On hiatus.
1. Return of Wind, Pt 1

**Title:** Return of Wind

**Summary:** Post _Storm Before the Calm, Pt. 2_. When the Wind Rangers retire from saving the world in color-coded spandexes, they enter a battle with an enemy that they have never encountered before: teaching at the Academy. Set from _Storm Before the Calm, Pt. 2_ to _Thunder Storm, Pt. 1_.

* * *

_Blue Bay Harbor, 8:30 a.m., November 22, 2003_

* * *

Waldo "Dustin" Brooks woke up to the annoying beep of his alarm clock.

Groaning, the former Yellow Wind Ranger slapped it shut, blearily opening one eye to check the time. Instantly, his eyes popped out of their sockets and he grabbed his hair. "SHIT!"

"Dustin!" his father called from downstairs. "What did you just say?"

"Oh, man, I am _screwed!_" Dustin yelped, completely ignoring his father's huff of exasperation. Snatching his earth sensei uniform from where it was hanging lazily off his chair, he threw it on over his pajamas, sliding down the banister while zipping it up. Fastening the Wind Academy's circular emblem at the throat of the uniform, he raced to the breakfast table, where his father's head was hidden behind _The New York Times_, as it always was.

Dustin's father looked at him. "You're late for teaching duties, eh?" he asked with a hint of disapproval in his tone.

Dustin groaned. His mother, who was rarely ever home because of her duties as a leading marine biologist, had been a water ninja graduate of the Rain Ninja Academy, while his father was also water ninja, although he graduated at the Wind Ninja Academy.

Sometimes, he wondered how he showed an aptitude as an earth ninja while both of his parents were water ninjas.

"Dad, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Dustin groaned, hurriedly fixing his hair.

His father clucked absently. "Dustin, you're eighteen and about to go to the University of Indiana next fall. You can't rely on me to wake you up every single day for duties like this!"

"Oh, god, my friends are going to kill me!" Dustin moaned, rushing to grab a cereal bar.

"They will, son," his father cheerfully said. "In fact, they've been waiting for you outside the door since seven." He chuckled. "What's her name...Tori? Yes, Tori was swearing up and down the block that she would douse you in gasoline and then drop-kick you off the Golden Gate Bridge. Apparently, Shane was going to help her. But I'm sure they'll understand."

"DAD!" Dustin yelled, and then grabbed his bag, stuffing the cereal bar in his mouth. "Mex'f t'm, wuck muh uff!"

"I didn't understand that," Dustin's dad grinned, "but you better go."

Dustin burst out of the door, straight into a seething Tori and Shane. "Dudes, I'm so sorry—"

"Get into the car!" Shane barked as Tori screamed, "YOU ARE SUCH AN ASS!" His "best friends" nearly folded him in half into Tori's blue van by shoving him through an open window, and the demon herself got in the driver's seat, hitting the gas until the car must have been accelerating at over eighty miles an hour.

Shane glared at him. "Bro, we are _so_ going to get chewed out by Sensei!"

Dustin rubbed his head. "Sorry, I overslept...and technically, since we _are_ Senseis—"

"Don't go there," Tori snapped, swerving to avoid a runaway sparrow. She skidded onto a mountain path, sending loose rocks tumbling down the side of the cliff. They sped past a speed limit sign, which happened to say, _Speed Limit: 15 mph._

"You're gonna kill us!" Dustin screamed as he held on for dear life.

"Bite her!" Shane retorted.

"Are you saying that women can't drive?" Tori snarled. "We're already an hour late! God_dammit_, if I get assigned to kitchen duty with you guys again, you are _so_ going to get it..."

A minute later, Tori miraculously pulled to car to a stop near the forest where the Wind Ninja Academy was located. All three ninjas jumped out, streaking towards the waterfall and running through the portal.

Shane led the way to the grounds, where a whole horde of ninjas and a not-too-happy looking Cam were waiting for them.

"You guys are an hour late," the son of Sensei Kanoi Watanabe grimly said. "An _hour!_ Didn't we already go through this?"

Shane and Tori both glared at Dustin in front of the entire student body. The earth sensei cringed. "I overslept! Mercy! Don't kick me off the Golden Gate Bridge!"

Both of them stomped on his feet, and Dustin yelped. "Ouch!"

"Guys, break it up!" Cam got in between them. "Honestly, the way you're acting right now..." He turned to the students, who were all giggling, shaking his head. "Excuse me. Now that your instructors are _finally_ here, we shall begin—"

"Wait!" someone yelled from the bushes.

Three beginner ninjas exploded from the sidelines, panting as they stumbled out of the woods.

"You three again?" Cam resignedly asked.

The guy in the yellow trimmed outfit, an earth ninja, grinned. "Ninjas, dude."

The girl in blue gave him a look. "No one says 'dude' anymore, Eric."

"Oh, they totally do, Tally," the first guy said happily. "Right, Kyle?"

"Totally, dude!" the one in red, Kyle, grinned.

Shane, Tori, and Dustin exchanged a look with each other, and then looked at the trio as they filed into the ranks of the ninjas already there. Dustin broke out into a wide grin. "They're the new us!"

Shane and Tori both groaned as Cam facepalmed. "I don't think I can go through this again...anyways. Training. I'll leave you with Shane, Tori, and Dustin to get started. If Shane and Tori aren't too busy killing Dustin—"

"HEY!"

"—then they will hopefully explain the schedule and training here," Cam finished, ignoring the three senseis' looks. He clapped his hands. "To business!" Briskly walking away, he went to his own students, the small amount of samurai who had enrolled at the Academy.

Tori and Dustin both pushed Shane to the front. The air ninja grumbled. "Typical." Raising his voice, he began introductions. "Hey, guys. So, I'm Shane Clarke, the air sensei around here...um..."

"Dude, you're doing this all wrong," Dustin ordered Shane.

"See?" Eric loudly hissed to his blue friend. "I told you!"

"Let the master take over," Dustin continued. Shane rolled his eyes, but he stepped back and allowed Dustin to take his place.

"So! Hey, ninjas-in-training!" Dustin grinned. "Sorry we're late; it's just that Shane and Tori here overslept—"

"Waldo Dustin Brooks!" both of them snarled.

"—uh, what I meant to say was, I overslept, so we're late, but we're here now!" Dustin scratched the back of his neck. "So, um, yeah. Anyways, Shane introduced himself, and I'm Dustin. Dustin Brooks, earth sensei." He pulled Tori to the front. "This here's our resident—"

"Since when was I a 'this'?" Tori demanded. "Get out of my way!" She pushed Dustin backwards, sending him tumbling into Shane. They both fell off the podium with an _oof!_, and all the female ninjas smirked and nudged each other. "Men..." Tori mumbled. She plastered her trademark smile on her face. "Anyways, I'm Tori. I'll be teaching the water class around here."

Shane and Dustin both climbed back up, rubbing their arms. Tori gave them a _don't-you-dare-interfere-or-I'll-punch-you-in-the-face_ look, and turned back to the students.

"Her and her split personalities," Dustin whispered to Shane. Tori stepped on his foot again without looking back. "So...I guess that I'll take the water ninjas right now." Stepping off the podium, she waved them over to one of the training areas, and the water ninjas flocked over to her, leaving a mass of red and yellow behind.

"Ahem." Shane cleared his throat. "Same goes for air; I'll take you guys."

Which left Dustin and the earth ninjas.

The earth sensei grinned. "I guess we'll start off with some fun. Who likes mud fights?"

Shane looked over his shoulder as he herded his students to Tori, who was waving him over. "NO MUD FIGHTS!" he yelled.

"Okay, no mud fights," Dustin admitted, drawing a groan of disappointment from his students. "But you will be getting down and dirty in this exercise, so...take a shower when you get home!"

* * *

"Okay," Shane started as he began to address the crowd of air and water ninjas. "The first thing that you need to know about ninja fighting techniques as that air, water, and earth all have some degree of connectivity in their styles. So while Dustin's off to teach his students the basics of earth manipulation, Tori and I will begin to tell you the basics of the Air and Water techniques. Tomorrow, Air will be with Earth and Water will be manipulating, and the following day, Water and Earth are together, with Air off to the side." He smiled. "This will be interesting..."

An air ninja raised his hand. "So are you going to, like, pair us off fighting, or do we have to read out of a textbook?"

"No textbooks," Shane said affirmatively. "Textbooks are stupid."

Tori frowned. "They are not! I can use them to give you permanent brain damage right now!" She pulled an Algebra textbook seemingly from nowhere and threw it at his head.

Shane ducked. "Hey, what was that for?"

"You insulted the textbook," Tori barked. "Never do that again."

"She's weird," Shane told the students, who were watching this like a reality TV show. "Sorry. But to answer your second question...well, first, what's your name?"

"Kyle," the boy answered.

"Kyle," Shane nodded. "We will be splitting you up into partners. Air will be paired off with Water for the first couple of days, but as we dive deeper into the individual techniques of each element, you'll be fighting with members of your faction. That will come later, though. But even before we split you up, we'll be giving you a demonstration."

Tori grinned evilly. "Which is why this will be interesting."

Shane took a step away from her. "Tori...don't...even...think about it..."

"I wasn't," Tori sniffed.

"Pay attention," Shane said, turning back to the students. "We'll be showing off a few basic moves. I will be on offense, and Tori will be defense. Okay?"

A chorus of "uh huh"s and "yeah"s drifted through crowd.

"Very well. Let us—"

"Wait!" Tori interrupted. Smiling, she instantly punched Shane in the face. "That was for stealing my board last week," she happily said. "Now we can begin."

Shane rubbed his nose, and then he took up a offensive position. "One. Two. Three. Go."

* * *

Dustin led his band of chattering earth students to the dirt patch near the Academy. "Okay, guys, girls, I want you to lie down on the earth. To manipulate it, you have to have a close feel to it—once you, so to speak, get 'down and dirty', we can start."

Twenty faces stared at him in disbelief.

"Guys." Dustin held up his hands. "You've gotta _feel_ the earth. You've really gotta _feel_ it to manipulate it."

"Feel the earth!" Eric enthusiastically said. "Right!" He felt the earth, crumbling it between his fingers. "Like that?"

"Um..." Dustin scratched his head. "Yeah...I guess?"

Once everyone had "felt" the dirt, Dustin smiled. "Okay, earth is a solid element, as all of you guys know. So to exert control over it, you've got to be...well, solid. Firm and tall. Once that feeling is kind of like muscle memory, you'll be able to manipulate earth without any problem." He demonstrated by tossing a dust bomb into Cam's back, who was about twenty feet away. The earth students burst out into laughter as Cam stiffened and swiveled around, glaring at Dustin. "SENSEI BROOKS!"

"Whoa! Dude, I'm sorry! It just went kinda, uh, haywire?" Dustin turned back to his students. "Anyways, like that. So I want you to stand up straight, feet slightly apart. I'm going to try and knock you over."

The students quickly assembled, and Dustin started with a guy at the back corner. "Your name is...?"

"Tom," the boy replied in a small voice.

Dustin smiled kindly at him. "'S okay, Tom, I won't bite. This is why you don't sign up for Air or Water. Anyways, as I said before, I am going to try to push you over, unbalance you. I want you to resist me without tipping both of us over, okay? One, two, three, go."

Dustin began to apply pressure to the boy, who instantly fell over into the girl next to him, creating a domino effect.

Dustin scratched his head. "Um...your upper body strength is commendable, but that won't do you any good if you don't have a strong base." He knelt down and tapped Tom's legs. "Try keeping them a little wider apart, so that you have a solid, firm base."

And so it wore on, with most of the trainees tipping over on one another.

Dustin swallowed after he tested the last student, who happened to fall straight into Dustin. "Um...maybe we should just practice our stances for now...but my _point_ is, after you get that technique nailed down, you have to apply that...feeling to the earth, bond and become one with it. You have something in common with it then. You know, manipulating earth requires a lot of _feeling_."

Cricket, cricket.

"Get to it, then," Dustin briskly announced. "We'll postpone manipulation until each and every one of you get that stance."

* * *

Tori crossed her arms in front of her chest to protect herself from Shane's one-two punches.

"I can't do this," Shane mumbled as he pulled back to deliver a right hook.

"What are you talking about?" Tori asked as she bent back to avoid the blow. "You're doing fine! Think of it as a sparring match. We did plenty of those in Ninja Ops."

Shane transferred his weight from his right to his left foot, about to demonstrate the last attack, a snap-kick. "This isn't a sparring match," he muttered. Losing his form a little, Shane landed head-first at Tori's feet.

Tori blinked, and then grinned. "I win!" She pulled Shane up, and her smile was wiped away from her face. "What was that? Your snap-kicks are usually the best out of all of us..."

"I told you!" Shane quietly moaned. "I can't teach!"

Tori rolled her eyes. "Shane, you're doing fine. We're done, anyways." She turned to the ninjas. "Okay. Sorry about that last demo; Shane was a little off on that one. So, uh, how about...air ninjas to our left, water to out right."

As the ninjas scrambled to their positions, Tori gave Shane an exasperated look. "Trust me, you're doing okay. This is our first time doing this, remember? I'm sure that all of us will get into the groove of it by next week."

Shane didn't reply.

Tori lowered her voice. "If this is still about insecurities over Skyla...you've got to let go. You're the leader of us when we were Power Rangers, you still are. You did an awesome job _leading_ us in the battle against Lothor. Teaching's the same thing, except that we've all got equal roles now. You're leading your air ninjas, I my water ninjas, and Dustin his earth students. It's as simple as that. I know that Skyla meant a lot to you, but that was, like, the only blemish on your otherwise pristine record in Ranger-ing. Okay, maybe you and Hunter arguing like little girls was another, and you putting the blame on me and Dustin for not retrieving a stupid scroll in the middle of a desert _another_, but that doesn't matter." Tori patted Shane's back. "Okay?"

"Okay," Shane whispered. "I'll think about it that way." He turned his attention to the students. "Okay, so now that you're divided into your own groups, I want you to pick a partner from the other group. In other words, Air should pair up with Water, not Air-Air or Water-Water. Then, training shall officially commence..."

* * *

**A.N./** So: Love it? Hate it? Review it! This was Part One of Day One. Hope you enjoyed reading!


	2. We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

**Oh. My. Gods. I'm so sorry, but I was stuck in Yellowstone for most of August and school started today. THANK GOD I HAVE STUDY HALL...NO MORE SCIENCE RESEARCH! :DDDDD**

**This will introduce two OCs. Now, I hate OCs, because everybody makes them so perfect and pretty and primped up, but I wanna introduce some siblings! More fun that way when they find out that their little bros and sisters are kick-ass ninjas!**

**AGGGAAAAAHH MUST READ MARK OF ATHENA AND DEMIGOD DIARIES...**

**Oh, and whatever hints there might be in this chapter, this fic will _not_ end up as Tori/Dustin. I mean, I'm perfectly fine with the pairing, but I totally want Tori to end up with Blake or Hunter. Not sure which one yet, but whatever.**

* * *

_Blue Bay Harbor, 1:30 p.m., November 22, 2003_

* * *

"Dad! I'm home!"

Tyler Brooks dumped his suitcase on the Welcome mat at the foot of the Brooks household's door, looking around. His mother wasn't home, which was to be expected, and his father was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Dustin, his little brother by five years.

_Where the hell could he be?_ the twenty-four-year old thought in confusion. _Motocross track?_

"Tyler?" His dad's voice called faintly from the second floor. "You're home? I'll be there in a sec."

There was a scuffling sound, and his father tramped down the hall, a few newspaper shavings in his hair. He wrapped Tyler in a bear hug. "How's Cornell?"

"It's good," Tyler vaguely replied. "Uh...where's Dustin?"

His dad let go of him. His smile had slipped a notch, but he forced it back up. "He's...out in his half-time job."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up." Tyler grinned. "'Dustin' and 'job' don't go together. Dad, stop teasing."

"I'm not kidding," his dad said, his face totally serious. "Dustin's the earth ninja sensei at the Wind Ninja Academy."

Tyler was stunned for a moment, but when the words finally registered themselves into his head, he burst out laughing. "Nice one, Dad. I never knew you had it in you!"

"I'm not kidding!" His dad's pout made him look like a five-year-old kid begging for candy.

"Yeah," Tyler said, laughing it off. "'Cause Dustin totally has it in him to be a ninja. Dad, ninjas are, like, _so_ the 1200s."

His dad gave him a crooked smile. "Believe what you want, son," he smiled. "But that won't change the fact that you little brother's a ninja." He went to the kitchen table, humming some random song from the '80s, and began to clean up the remains of his lunch.

Tyler slowly blinked. "Dustin" and "job" didn't fit with each other, but neither did "Dustin" and "ninja". This had to be investigated.

"You want any lunch?" his dad yelled from the kitchen. "There's some leftover BLT from last night!"

"Nah," Tyler answered, "I'm going to take a walk. See how much has changed in two years."

"Be back by three," he dad ordered, turning on the dishwasher.

Tyler turned the doorknob. "You can count on it."

* * *

Tyler wandered around the neighborhood for about twenty minutes, and then took a swing to Shane Clarke's house, who he knew was one of Dustin's best friends. The other, he didn't even know her name. Tally? Taylor? Theresa? He knew that it began with a "T".

The door swung open as soon as he knocked on it, revealing Shane's dad. "Tyler?" he smiled. "It's been a long time! How's college?"

"It's good," Tyler shortly responded, wondering why all that adults cared today about was college. "I was looking for Shane...I was kinda wondering where Dustin was."

"Oh." Shane's dad frowned. "He left somwhere around six this morning with Tori. They were picking Dustin up for a day out or something." He laughed. "They've been having a lot of those for a long time, actually. Always somehow got caught up at the monster attack the same time the Power Rangers showed up. But I'm pretty happy that Shane's becoming more social."

Tyler stifled a groan. Shane wasn't going to be of a help either...

"Who's Tori?"

"Um..." Shane's dad thought for a moment. "Blonde hair, blue eyes...wears blue..."

"Oh! That's her name!" Tyler snapped his fingers. "Yeah, didn't she have a sister?"

"Yeah, Allie. I think she just came back from grad school..."

As if on cue, there was a patter of feet behind them as a tall girl with blonde hair came running up to them, breathless.

"Something...Tori...about...school...told...Shane...be...here..." Allie panted, trying to catch her breath.

Shane's dad shrugged. "Well, looks like you're both out of luck," he smiled. "Tori swooped in at six today to pick up Shane, and they left to gather Dustin." He chuckled. "Funny how they're an inseperable trio, huh? I suggest you just wander around town and see what they're up to. Crash their movie outing or date or something."

"Okay," Tyler agreed. "Thanks, Mr. Clarke, we appreciate the info." He felt a tug on his shoulder as Allie dragged him down the steps.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the Clarke household, Tyler grabbed Allie's arm. "My dad was talking about some ninja school. Is either Dustin or what's-her-name a ninja? I thought that they didn't exist."

"How am I supposed to know?" Allie demanded. "I haven't seen my sister for four years!"

The two young adults looked at each other, and then, they bolted towards the forest.

* * *

Tori sat on the edge of the waterfall, her feet tucked under her. She stared at the rippling blue-silver liquid, stretching a hand out towards it.

It was lunchtime, apparently, and Shane and Dustin had taken the novice ninjas to the mess hall. Lunch today was spaghetti and soup. To put it more accurately, cardboard strips with lumpy red tomato-y liquid. You could, hopefully, understand why Tori didn't have an appetite at the moment, although that the not-so-much food was not the only reason she was alone.

The training had gone horribly. Tori could now finally understand what it was that made Hunter so ticked off when Shane turned on his bossy mode. Of course, she'd _seen_ it during their time as Rangers, but she had never really been on the receiving end of it. They had gotten into a huge, silent fight over some training technique that Tori was sure that the students wasn't ready for yet, but Shane was positive that they would "get the hang of it in, oh, a few tries."

Yeah, more like a few million.

They ended up following Shane's idea. More than half the students had a minor injury by the end of the session: a twisted ankle here, a still-jarred elbow here. One boy had almost dislocated his shoulder.

She didn't know how Dustin's training went, but his students looked pretty happy (even though they were totally covered in sod and mud). Tori made a mental note to ask him of his training techniques after class ended today.

"Tori?" someone called. Tori half-turned to see Dustin jogging towards her. The earth ninja sat down next to her. "You okay?"

"Oh, yes," Tori said off-handedly. "I'm just crying here because of a stupid thing that happened between me and Shane. In fact, it's so stupid that I'm not even sure why I'm still moping around here."

Dustin blinked as he fiddled with the grass. "Was that meant to be a sarcastic statement?"

"No," Tori replied. She shrugged, starting to get up, but Dustin pushed her back down into a sitting position.

"No, really," Tori protested. "We just got into an argument, that's all. It wasn't about anything serious, just some training technique."

"Then why are you sitting out here all alone?" Dustin queried.

Tori rolled her eyes. "Exactly why I was about to get up and go back." She plucked a blade of grass from the ground, carefully splitting it down the middle with a fingernail. "I don't know; it's just that Shane really irked me with that, 'Oh, you always have to listen to me because I'm the leader and I always will be'. I mean, yeah, we've dealt with it before when we were Rangers, but this was...different, I guess. You know, like the Shane-bothering-Hunter different."

Dustin shrugged. "Listen, Tor, you know that Shane can be like that. You'll just have to learn to deal with it. I mean, the feud between Shane and Hunter kind of died down after a while. Maybe it's just a phase. I mean, we're obviously still stressed out over Lothor, even though we defeated him, and it has to be hard for you since Blake—" Dustin stopped, nervously looking at Tori, whose face had instantly become closed off.

"Um," the earth sensei said, backtracking, "what I meant to say was, we all have some...problems in our lives right now that can be making us all irritable and cranky. Like, maybe it's just that your 'time of the month'—"

"Dustin!" Tori protested, swatting him on the arm, although she smiled at the joke.

"Shh, Tori," Dustin whispered, putting a finger to his lips. "You're going to attract the whole of Blue Bay Harbor when you yell."

Tori opened her mouth to yell at him some more, but then realized what she was about to do, and so she shut her mouth, slightly abashed. "Sorry," she mumbled. She smiled at him and got up, pulling Dustin up with her. She was just about to walk onto the lake when she felt the back of her neck prickle, a sure sign that something had gone amiss. Her back instantly stiffened.

Dustin had obviously felt the same way, because his fingers closed around Tori's arm in a vise-like grip. "Did you feel that?"

Both she and Dustin swiveled around, back-to-back. Dustin craned his neck up, scanning his surroundings. "Hellooo? Anybody there?"

No answer. The wind blew through the trees, making them rustle.

Dustin relaxed, although Tori still remained as stiff as a tree trunk. "Could be nothing," the earth sensei shrugged.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances," Tori hissed back. "'Cause if Lothor got out of the Abyss of Evil, somehow, I really don't want to see the school get sucked up into the sky in the middle of lunch."

Dustin aimlessly waved a hand. "Well..."

"Well, _what?_" Tori snapped annoyed, starting to move into the forest. Dustin admitted defeat and trailed after her, and they both cut through the trees, silent streaks of black in the still air.

About two minutes later, there was a thump and a yell, and Tori came running out of the forest. "Dustin?!"

"Over here!" the earth sensei's voice sounded muffled. "A bit squashed, but alive! Ow..."

Tori poked her head through a clearing of trees and saw Dustin sitting on the ground, two bodies sprawled out besides him. One of them was a tall, well-muscled guy with short black hair, and the other was a girl with long blonde hair.

"I accidently attacked our siblings," Dustin informed Tori, who's mouth had dropped open. "They'll wake up in a couple of minutes with a minor headache."

Tori sat down next to Allie. "What I don't get is how they found the waterfall. I thought that only wind ninjas and a select other few"—she rolled her eyes at the last phrase—"could find this place."

Dustin checked his watch. "Well," he tersely said, "maybe since they're family, they can find it. And we have five minutes until lunch ends." He held Tori's shocked gaze. "I think that you know what that means." He eyes drifted to the still-knocked-out two young adults.

Tori was never one for self-pity, but she banged her head on the ground in desperation. "WHY ME?!"

* * *

Shane looked at the clock, tapping his fingernails on the oak table. What was taking Dustin and Tori so long? Damn, the worst case scenario was that those two began to spend more time with each other, and Shane was going to take that as a warning sign and if he wasn't careful, he would walk onto them one day, completely oblivious, seeing them making out.

The former Red Wind Ranger shuddered at the thought and got up, lumbering down the hall and out into the open air. He raised his now-defunct Wind Morpher, which Cam have modified into a simple communicator for the three Wind Rangers, to his lips. "Tori, Dustin, class starts in two minutes. Where are you?"

There was a beep on the other end, signalling that one of the other senseis, either Tori or Dustin, had come online. For a moment, there was some background noise—somebody suspiciously bawling, _"WHY ME?!"_—but then, Dustin's voice crackled over the small object.

"Uh, yeah, roger that...? We're kinda at the edge of the waterfall, but we have a, uh, small problem—"

Tori came on, talking over Dustin. "What the hell are we going to do with two passed-out siblings of me and Dustin?"

Shane felt his face turn pasty. "Say _what?_"

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Ninja students began pouring out of the mess hall, chattering and heading towards the common green.

"Oh, damn," Shane growled. "Just bring them here and...we'll figure it out from there. I'll contact Sensei." He thumbed off the communicator, putting a hand to his forehead.

Funny, he had just heard "We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands" blasting out of some ninja's MP3 player. How ironic; they _did_ have a big mess on their hands.


	3. Friendship is Magic

**Author's Note:** This is my way of showing you that this story isn't abandoned. XD

**_Disclaimer:_** I _do not claim to own_ Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Or Power Rangers in general. Saban owned it, and then Disney, and Saban does again. I _do not claim to own_ Shane Clarke (Red Wind Ranger), Tori Hanson (Blue Wind Ranger), Dustin Brooks (Yellow Wind Ranger), or the Wind Ninja Academy. I _do not claim to own_ the Wind Academy's logo, the Hurricanger symbol, or their laser-tag-esque uniforms. _**I do not claim to own the Tori/Blake canon pairing, even though there is absolutely no mention of it in this chapter, but I have decided that that will be the main pairing.**_ I do not claim to own Shane/Kapri, Dustin/Marah, or Shane/Dustin, whichever they may end up with. No, I have not decided Shane and Dustin will end up with. No, I _do not care about slash, bromance, and femslash_, so if you have a problem with Rainbow Rangers, stop reading this if it does end up being Shane/Dustin, well dammit, that sucks, and shut up. Yes, I apologize for being rude. I _do not claim to own_ My Little Pony, which is owned by Hasbro, and Rainbow Dash also belongs to Hasbro. No, _I do not claim_ to watch My Little Pony; I got that off of Wikipedia.

_**Claimer:** _I _do_ claim to own Tyler Brooks and Allie Hanson. They're on their way to either becoming main secondary characters or even main characters. If they come anywhere _near_ a Gary Stu or Mary Sue, tell me and I will attempt to fix it.

Flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores. Enjoy reading.

* * *

_Wind Ninja Academy, 2:05 p.m., November 22, 2003_

* * *

Tyler groaned as his eyes fluttered open. He was lying on a hard surface, which was not at all comfortable and hurt his back. It seemed to be of a yellow-ish color, with a bit of non-metallic gold mixed into it. A very light goldenrod, perhaps.

The next thing he realized was the fact that a boy dressed in something that looked like a laser-tag jacket and matching pants with blue piping trimming the outside was sitting on a chair about five feet away from him, waiting patiently for him to awaken.

The third thing: "Allie?" The boy immediately hopped off the chair and shouted, "Sensei, he's awake!" There thump of feet treading on the ground sounded, and a familiar-looking girl dismissed the boy, who bowed respectfully, and then ran off.

"Dustin's busy with class right now," she told Tyler before he could ask, sitting down next to him, "otherwise he'd be here. And you might want to get up before someone accidentally squashes you into a human pancake, or a mud pie hits you in the face."

"Allie?" Tyler repeated woozily, struggling to get up. "Oh, no," the girl smiled, "she's still passed out. I checked a few minutes ago. I'm Tori, her younger sister."

Tyler sat up, his eyes wide. "So that's your name?"

Tori gave him a sarcastic glance. "Nope, I lied; I'm Iphigenia."

"Really?" Tyler asked, dumbfounded.

Tori—or Iphigenia (either of the one)—didn't bother to explain. "Do you know where you are?"

"Um..." Tyler looked around, surveying his surroundings. The hard floor he was lying on was a very large, seemingly perfect square, made out of what seemed to be semi-polished bamboo wood. There was a rack of long rods to the left edge of the complex, a raised podium in the center, and red, blue, and yellow banners emblazoned with something that looked vaguely like a ladybug fluttered in the breeze around the perimeter of the area. To his left, there was a huge forest. To his left was a large, twelfth-century-Japanese-esque type of house, and to his front was a grassy slope. "Nature park?" he coyly guessed.

"Hardly," Tori replied. Then, she paused. "Actually, maybe you can say that. A nature reserve would be a more accurate response, but there are not too many animals here but fish in the lake and rodents in the woods. Then again, what's the difference?" She shrugged. "Guess again."

His father's words popped into his head: "Dustin's the earth ninja sensei at the Wind Ninja Academy."

Tori said that he was teaching...

"The 'Wind Ninja Academy'," Tyler guessed again resignedly, knowing that Tori would probably look at him like he was crazy. To his surprise and mild chagrin, she didn't. Instead, she asked, "What made you guess that?"

"Erm, my dad told me earlier that Dustin was the 'earth ninja sensei at the Wind Ninja Academy'. I didn't believe him, but now, I'm not too sure..."

"Well, that's nice," Tori said mildly, "because you guessed correctly. Welcome to the Wind Ninja Academy." She nodded at the slope. "Dustin's right down there. So...what to warn you about..." She stared off into the distance, and then began rattling off what seemed to be a mental list. "One: Be careful not to get hit with a dust bomb, two: don't play in the mud, three: never ever ever ever pick the flowers in the central green—don't ask, four: don't talk about motocross, five: don't talk about Marah and Beevil—although you probably don't even know who they are—six: don't give Dustin marshmallows, 'cause he gets really hyper, seven: if he dives underground, don't bother looking for him, eight: stay near Dustin unless you want to get lost, nine: he's in his My Little Pony phase right now, so if he starts talking about something called 'Rainbow Dash', well, now you know, ten: don't distract him from teaching, since it's his first time, and all of ours, too, et cetera, et cetera." She smiled at him and rose, turning around to leave.

"Wait!" Tyler called, and Tori turned around. "Hmm?"

_"My Little Pony?!"_

Tori smirked at his vexation. "But of course! Friendship is magic! Then again, my bet with Shane is that the earth ninjas will take the longest to graduate." She laughed dismissively. "He said that mine would be the last to…we'll see about that." With that seemingly meaningless note, she sprinted to the right, disappearing into the large house.

Tyler stumbled to his feet, having temporarily forgotten how to walk, and nearly tripped over his shoelaces has he headed down the slope, where he recognized Dustin sitting in a large dirt patch. He was surrounded by twenty other people clad in a similar uniform the first boy he had seen was wearing, except that their color was yellow, not blue. Dustin was empathetically gesturing with his hands, and his students occasionally laughed as some dirt clods rose up above their heads.

Tori had said to not distract Dustin's class, but she also told him to stay close to him, but that seemed almost like a paradox to Tyler. How could he stay close to Dustin and not disrupt his class?

Fortunately, Dustin resolved the issue himself (although he did happen to disrupt the class in the process) by looking up, springing up, and tackling Tyler with a hug before his students could even turn around. "Dude! You're awake!"

Tyler weakly choked. "Yeah," he gasped, "I'm awake. But I think I'll…pass out again...if you keep on..."

"Oh, yeah, dude, I totally understand!" Dustin grinned, hoisting both of them up.

Tyler noticed with resignation that Dustin was much taller than he was—it was a difference of what must have been six inches. Then again, Tyler had always been vertically challenged, so he wasn't that surprised or anything.

By this point, Dustin's students had come over, and one of them tentatively raised her hand. "Is that your little brother? Because Sensei Hanson was rambling on about sisters and brothers and siblings and secrets and waterfalls until Sensei Clarke told her to shut up."

"Nope," Dustin brightly smiled, "this is Tyler—he goes to Cornell; he's my older bro! Notice the height difference!"

"Dustin..." Tyler resignedly sighed.

"Seriously, dude, you're like five-foot-six!" Dustin exclaimed, gesturing with his hands to exemplify his point.

"Dustin," Tyler pointedly said, "I challenge you to not say 'dude' or 'bro' in every sentence you utter."

A collective "Ooooo" rises up from the students, who begin chuckling and shoving each other.

"Okay," Dustin grinned.

Tyler waited.

"That was a sentence, dude!" Dustin laughed. "'Okay'!"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "You completely missed the point there..."

Dustin empathetically nodded. "I know, bro! Listen, um, I have a class to teach right now..." He gestured towards the still-laughing body of students.

"Yeah, I know," Tyler confirmed. "Tori told me. By the way, is her name 'Tori', or is it 'Iphigenia'?"

"Tori," Dustin replied, puzzled. "Why?"

"Well..." Tyler scratched the nape of his neck, well aware that now, he had the attention of not only Dustin, but all his trainees. "So I knew that Allie had a younger sibling, but I couldn't remember her name, and then Tori comes up to me and tells me her name. And I, because I didn't know her name previously, am like, 'Oh, so that's your name?' She just looks at me sarcastically and goes, 'Nope, I lied; I'm Iphigenia'."

This prompts another burst of laughter from the earth ninjas.

"Dude." Dustin claps him on the back. "Tori's the worst liar in the world. When she uses sarcasm, don't believe what she's saying."

"Oh!" Tyler said in relief. "So you don't like My Little Pony!"

"OH MY GOSH!" Dustin hysterically yelped. "WHO'RE YOU KIDDING?!"

Tyler and the earth trainees look at him in alarm. "Um..."  
"MY LITTLE PONY IS THE BESTEST THING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WOOOOOOOORLD! I LOVE RAINBOW DASH THE BEST!"

From behind the door of the Wind Academy's main building, Tori bursts out into hysterical laughter herself, sliding down the door to lie, curled-up at a shocked Shane's feet.

"Um...Tori...are you okay?"

"I warned him! I so warned him!" Tori gasped out, and then proceeded to laugh some more—a lot more.

Shane blinked at the still-hysterical water ninja and knelt down. "Who are you and what have you done to Tori Hanson?"

A steady stream of laughter was his answer.

Shane sighed in exasperation and sat down next to the half-laughing/half-crying blonde.

He had to make sure that she didn't die.

Allie staggered out of the guest room she was staying in, stopped short at the scene of her sister writhing and choking on her own tongue, and promptly said, "Um."

"Yeah..." Shane scratched his head as Tori took a deep breath, stopped to catch her breath, her sides heaving, and burst up again.

"She's changed," Allie weakly observed.

"No, she hasn't," Shane smiled. "Enjoy this while you can. You'll never see it again."

Allie gestured helplessly towards her. "Well...why the hell is she this hyper?"

"I warned him!" Tori laughed even harder. "...My...Little...Pony...Friendship is Magic...!"

"Right," Shane sarcastically said, patting her back. "Why don't we get you a cup of water before you vomit?"

She only laughed harder.

Shane looked at Allie. "What time is it?"

"Two thirty."

The air ninja sighed. _Only two and a half more fun-filled hours to go..._


End file.
